Even though the entire world took a hard hit from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, BMW Group managed to keep its strategy mostly on track and increase the sales of electrified models in the first half of 2020.

Overall sales numbers were down by 23% compared to the same period of 2019. In total, BMW Group delivered 962,575 vehicles worldwide YTD. In June 2020 only, the figure reached 218,876 units sold, which shows a contraction of 9% vs. June 2019.

Pieter Nota, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales, commented on the sales performance of the group: “We are following the development of global demand very closely and continue to plan for various scenarios so we can respond quickly as regions around the globe recover from the coronavirus pandemic at different speeds.”

He further highlights a revival of the Chinese market in the second quarter of 2020, with sales of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles exceeding the figure reached in the similar period of 2019: “We are seeing a positive development in China, where our second-quarter sales were once again higher than in the previous year.”

Nota also points out the contribution of BMW Group electrified vehicles that ensured extra momentum and helped temper down the impact of CoVID-19: “Demand for our electrified vehicles also outperformed the market trend in the first half of the year. Our wide range of plug-in hybrid models and the new fully-electric MINI are in high demand among our customers.”

Half-year detailed sales figures for BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad vehicles

In the first 6 months of 2020, BMW sold 842,153 units worldwide, which corresponds to a dramatic -21.7% plunge compared to H1 2019. At the same time, MINI sales also contracted by 31.1% to reach 118,862 vehicles delivered.

The positive side is that the sales of electrified (BEV and PHEV) BMW and MINI models experienced a good YoY increase of 3.4% to 61,652 models sold.

The Rolls-Royce luxury brand was also negatively affected as sales plummeted to 1,560 units delivered (-37.6% vs. same period of 2019). Last, but not least, overall sales of the BMW Motorrad division also went down by 17,7%, with 76,707 motorcycles sold in the first 6 months of 2020.

BMW Group H1 2020 sales split by key regions and markets

In the home market of Germany, sales of BMW and MINI models totaled 116,255 examples (-29.1% YoY), with 10.8% of these being electrified vehicles.

In Europe as a whole, BMW and MINI deliveries reached 372.428 units (-32.3% YoY). The share of electrified vehicles, namely battery electric and plug-in hybrid models, topped 10.9% of total units sold in the first half of 2020.

In the United States, the BMW Group managed to sell 133,844 vehicles in the January – June 2020 period (30.6% YoY decrease), out of which 121,657 units came from the core BMW brand (-29.6% YoY).

In H1 2020, China struggled less in terms of sales, albeit being struck hard the coronavirus pandemic. Deliveries of BMW Group vehicles dropped by around 6% on a year-on-year basis to 329,069 examples.

However, there are consistent signs of recovery, as in the second quarter, BMW Group sales in China have increased by 17.1% compared to Q2 2019.

Powerful pillars for future development

As part of its electrification strategy, BMW Group aims to have no less than 25 electrified models by year 2023. The path is strongly laid by the existing fleet of plug-in hybrid models, which will further expand in the following years.

Also, the new iX3 is coming this year, followed the i4 electric Gran Coupe and the brand flagship iX / iNEXT. Moreso, further battery electric vehicles from the BMW i technology brand are expected, alongside more plug-in hybrids on offer.

A consistent boost in terms of sales and customer appeal is expected in 2020 thanks to the introduction of the new generation 4 Series Coupe (G22) and 5 Series LCI, which are to provide further momentum in their respective segments.